Amanita squamosa

The following is based on the original description by Corner and Bas (1962).

The cap is 25 - 65 mm wide, convex to slightly concave, sepia-fuscous over the center, paler toward the margin, innately fibrillose, dry, with a nonstriate margin.  The cap is closely set with small, pale, brownish, more or less conical warts over the center, diminishing in size toward the margin.

The gills are free, subdistant, rather wide, and white to pale ochraceous.  The short gills are attenuate.

The stem is 50 - 80 × 4 - 6 mm, solid, pale brownish, sometimes sepia-brown at the base, with the entire fusiform base irregularly set with pale brown scales with slightly recurved tips.

The spores measure 6.5 - 7.5 × 5.5 - 6.5 µm and are subglobose to broadly ellipsoid and amyloid.  The original description presents no information on clamp connections in the fruiting body; however, clamps are quite rare throughout sect. Validae.

This species was described from Singapore.

The spindle-shaped bulb is nearly covered with recurved scales—a very striking character for a species in Amanita sect. Validae.

Corner and Bas suggest the most similar species is A. tristis Corner & Bas; in addition, they point out the following: Its spores are smaller and somewhat differently shaped; its fruiting bodies tend to be larger; it lacks scales or warts on the basal part of the bulbous stipe base, while the warts present are of a different form in the two species; and A. tristis has more of a grayish tint than A. squamosa.—R. E. Tulloss

The editors of this site owe a great debt to Dr. Cornelis Bas whose famous cigar box files of Amanita nomenclatural information gathered over three or more decades were made available to RET for computerization and make up the lion's share of the nomenclatural information presented on this site.

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